Anti-abortion group turns up the heat on defunding Planned Parenthood |
Anti-abortion group turns up the heat on defunding Planned Parenthood
Anti-abortion group turns up the heat on defunding Planned Parenthood
A leading anti-abortion group is threatening to give lawmakers a failing grade on its annual report card if Republicans don’t extend a provision defunding Planned Parenthood that was included in last summer’s megabill.
© AP Photo/Jeff Roberson
Students for Life Action said it would give lawmakers an F on its “pro-life generation report card” if they did not extend the defunding provision for a 10-year period by July 4. Otherwise, Planned Parenthood would be set to receive hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid funding.
“If Planned Parenthood & Big Abortion is restored access to taxpayer funds through Medicaid on July 4, 2026, Students for Life Action will issue a negative score to ALL Members of Congress,” the group wrote in a letter to members Thursday.
A provision in last year’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act blocked Planned Parenthood’s health centers from billing Medicaid for the other services they provide, like contraception and cancer screenings. Medicaid is their primary source of funding, and the legislation meant they lost out on more than $700 million annually.
Medicaid is prohibited from paying for almost all abortions, but conservatives wanted to put Planned Parenthood and other clinics that provide abortions out of business. They argued women can receive the same non-abortion care elsewhere.
Lawmakers initially wanted the provision to last for 10 years or become permanent, but it was dialed back to just one year in order to comply with the complicated Senate rules.
Anti-abortion groups warned against creating a cliff just ahead of the mid-terms. They now worry that Republicans are squandering their control of government and won’t get another shot to pass conservative priorities if Congress is split after November.
“With the extraordinary opportunity of the White House, Senate, and House in the hands of Republicans, pro-life voters asked for abortion vendors to go fund........